History of Tak
The history of the Free States of Tak is closely related to those of other peoples and countries on Smalik, especially Bowdani and its predecessor state Kencari, to which it offially belonged for 450 years, from 142 BP to 308 AP. Before Plague Tak have been living on the continent of Smalik as long as history, mostly keeping themselves away from the coastal areas, which were eventually occupied by other tribes and peoples. Sources about the early history of Tak were written by foreign writers and generally describe the Tak as a 'peaceful, rural and simple people, who may be easy to conquer'. The early society of Tak centred about the worship of nature, treating every natural thing (living, but often also e.g. stones and rocks) in a god-like manner. The first Druids were people with more insight in nature and its behaviour, who were increasingly respected by ordinary people, especially when alien practices entered Tak society, such as the habit of destroying natural areas in order to build houses (the first Tak built typical cabins whereever there was room without clearing the area and using only rocks and dead wood, with living trees often being integrated in the structures), and eating meat of animals that were specially killed for consumption. The Druids' slow increase of power was fed by conservative Tak who felt threatened by the foreign customs, but historians argue that during the Druid rule, the Druids' opinions on how to treat nature slowly adapted to these new customs and few actions that were taken by the Druids to prevent these from entering Tak society had effect whatsoever. Concentrated settlements - first villages, then cities - popped up in the lands of Tak, larger scale agriculture made an entrance, but the destruction of nature in order to expand 'civilisation' still had to be approved by the Druids, who assessed every individual case. In 643 BP, Tak was invaded by a neighbouring tribe, the Blk (Bëltse, known as the Bullocks in Bowdani history), and, being utterly unprepared for the (then) modern warfare, faced a heavy defeat, when another tribe, the Kencari, offered their assistance. The Blk were defeated, but in exchange, Tak had to pay tribute to the Kencari from that point on, de facto becoming a part of that country. This situation is made official with the Treaty of Litmarsh of 142 BP, after several decades during which the indigenous Tak Druid rule is slowly put aside in favour of a more Kencari government approved system. In 133 BP, the Druids are officially declared 'enemies of Kencari' and they go into hiding; despite the fact that they remained very respected by indigenous Tak, they avoided cities and never stayed too long in the same place, a tradition that is still in place in modern independent Tak. Timeline *ca. 2000 BP: First evidence of settlers on Smalik. *ca. 1617-1600 BP: South of Tak territory, the Council of Tribes is established by the Kencari Tribe in order to keep Smalik governable; in the north, Väring, Dahlian and Cabotenian tribes create their first proto-nations. The Tak, who live in the dense forests of north-central Smalik, are not included in either of these. *1275-680 BP: the Liliani Empire expands to include parts of north-eastern Smalik, including parts of present-day eastern Tak. *1200 BP: The inlands of Smalik are explored, but few explorers return and the ones that do speak of fire, strange creatures and cannibals. Later, the Tak were mistakenly associated with these stories (although the official attire of the Druids, made of the skin of dead deers, as well as the fact that the Tak cremated their dead on large fires may have contributed to them), leading to the popular believe (outside Tak) that the Druid governed society captured and ate strangers - which wasn't true. *643 BP: Invasion of Tak by the Blk, who are eventually defeated with help of the Kencari. In exchange Tak starts to pay tribute to the Kencari rulers and are eventually completely annexed by the latter. *325 BP: Smalik is hit by a major earthquake. The collision caused the collapse of an underground river and the creation of Pearyt Lake (Raak se Mɵg). When the earth stabilised again, the Kencari founded the settlement of Litmarsh (present day Mɵg), which soon grew to be one of the most important towns in the area. *142 BP: Treaty of Litmarsh, which makes Kencari rule over Tak official. *133 BP: The Druids are declared 'enemies of Kencari' and go into hiding. The Plague and afterwards During the Plague, it was discovered that the Druids possessed a medicine that wasn't an antidote but lessened the pain significantly, which helped many people die relatively peacefully, rather than in extreme agony. It is not known if the Druids themselves were affected by the Plague, and many Tak still believe that they were immune due to the fact that they lived outside of the dirty towns and cities. The events of the Plague caused many Tak to leave the cities and to try to live according to the Old Ways again. Most of them failed miserably, which caused additional early deaths in the aftermath of the Plague. Some entrepreneurs did exactly the opposite however and stimulated people to go live in the cities, in order to boost the economy of Tak. Between 24 and 34, the Port Frontier Trade Company conquered the port city of Port Frontier (present-day Lp) for this purpose. Originally a thriving Bowdani city whose population had been decimated by the Plague, Port Frontier had been taken over by criminal gangs; the Port Frontier Trade Company managed to restore order after ten years of Trade Wars, after which the city was repopulated by Tak. In 77 its name was changed to Lp, although it continued to be called Port Frontier by the rest of Bowdani. Due to the Plague, Bowdani lost a great deal of influence over Tak and between 73 and 78 AP some indigenous Tak politicians created the current government system, although Tak formally remained a (very autonomous) part of Bowdani until its official independence in 308. Timeline *24-34 AP: The Port Frontier Trade Wars between the Port Frontier Trade Company (founded in 23 AP) and the criminal gangs that had taken over the coastal city of Port Frontier (present day Lp) after the original Bowdani populations had been decimated by the Plague. *73-78 AP: The Tak establish local government, taking advantage of the fact that the Kencari government has been weakened by the effects of the Plague. They do not make any reference to an altered relationship with the Kencari though, so effectively Tak remains part of Kencari. *145 AP: The Tak choose the side of immigrants whose number has been growing in the past decades and together they overthrow the Tribal Council of Kencari. The new government confirms Tak autonomy within Kencari. *172 AP: A period of societal turmoil escalates when prime minister Nom ob Syk is murdered by a factory labourer during a visit to Grg. Her successor Yp ob Suup enables significant reforms that should improve the living conditions of labourers in the cities, but it takes several more decades before things really start to change. *199-205 AP: An outbreak of a cholera-like illness kill many people in several cities. Although now known as the 'Second Plague', it was in fact a much smaller epidemy caused by the unhealthy circumstances in which many people lived in the cities. *235 AP: Kencari changes its name into Bowdani ('nation of many') and the capital is moved to Sky City. *300 AP: Tak manages to stay outside the Bowdani civil war that followed a coup-d'état during which president Andrew Urban was deposed. Tak discontent about its alliance to Bowdani grows. *308 AP: Fears that the cripled Bowdani economy may affect the Tak economy (which isn't doing so bad in comparison), Tak officially declares itself independent from Bowdani. A hastily established Tak army is ready to defend Tak in the event that Bowdani doesn't agree with this move, but apart from a weak protest from Sky City, nothing happens. *315 AP: After only two countries (Samuelonia and Angliya) officially recognised Tak's independence in 309 and 310, the government launches a new international campaign in October 315, which has significantly more success. References History of Bowdani Category:Tak Category:History